


The Secret Life of Santa

by Rumaan



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-22
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-05-02 20:39:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5262719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumaan/pseuds/Rumaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The children in St. Mungo's Hospital need a Santa. Hermione doesn't give Draco a choice about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Secret Life of Santa

**Author's Note:**

> My advent prompt was 'Santa suit'.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who nominated me this year despite my lack of Dramione fanfics recently. It was a lot of fun writing this.
> 
> Many thanks to my beta, swirlsofblack, for help with this.

“No way!” Draco said, sticking his bottom lip out stubbornly. He knew he looked like a petulant child, but there was something about Granger that made the schoolboy in him come to the fore.

Then there was the fact that her suggestion was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. Something that he would never do in a million years.

“Malfoy, you seem to have misunderstood me. I was not _asking_ you but _telling_ you that this is what you are doing.”

“There is no way, Granger, no way that you are going to get me into _that_ ,” he said, pointing to the itchy-looking Santa suit that hung on the back of her door.

She blew out an exasperated huff of air that brought back memories of Hogwarts so sharply that he almost thought he was back in Snape’s dungeon watching her out the corner of his eye as her hair got bushier and her actions more frantic as she brewed perfect potions despite Professor’s Snape’s taunts.

Now he was older, more mature and did not buy into blood supremacy, he could see just how strong Hermione Granger was. She was a force of nature who poured passion into everything she did. He respected this, especially as she’d brought her sheer determination into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and had stamped her changes on the entire wizarding community for the better. However, she was now using that steel will to demean him in the most degrading way possible and he wasn’t going to settle for it.

But it wasn’t like she would take no for an answer. That was beyond the realms of possibility for Granger. No, she looked at him with that calm expression on her face and waited for him to crack.

“Not doing it,” he repeated, crossing his arms across his chest to emphasise how serious he was.

Granger didn’t need to know that Christmas at the St. Mungo’s Children Ward was something he took very seriously. He’d been donating the presents that Santa gave out to the kids every year, but he had a deal with the Head of St. Mungo’s: it was a completely anonymous donation and he had no involvement whatsoever in the actual day. The Ministry sent an employee to play ‘Santa’ every year, the job going around the departments in rotation and this year it was their department’s turn. By some hilarious twist of fate, Granger had decided he should be her employee to undertake this job, despite the fact that surely anyone else was more qualified. It wasn’t even like he could refuse as she was his departmental boss and was ordering him to dress up as Santa to hand his own presents out.

\-----------

Of course, Granger got her way and two weeks later, Draco found himself chugging back an aging and a fattening potion and already wearing the bloody Santa suit, which was as itchy as promised.

When he came out of the office St. Mungo’s had donated for him to use as a changing room, he was sufficiently rotund with a chubby wrinkled face, long white hair and an impressively bushy beard.

Granger cracked up the moment she saw him and he experienced an odd moment of awe as she threw her head back, her hand over her laughing mouth and her eyes shining with amusement. She looked adorably attractive when she laughed.

Startled by the unwelcome feeling, he stomped his way over to her, scowling, and declared, “I hate you for this!”

His words didn’t dampen the grin on her face. “Look on the bright side, Malfoy: now you actually have a good reason to dislike me.”

Grudgingly, he nodded his head in acknowledgement but kept quiet. He did not want Granger to realise that it had actually been years since he’d hated her, and even then, it’d had nothing do with her specifically. He’d always found her acerbic wit to be pretty entertaining. However, this was nothing she actually needed to know.

“Ms Granger, Mr Malfoy,” the Head of St. Mungo’s, Merit Crumpler, greeted them, shaking hands.

Draco hoped that she wouldn’t stay but she settled into step with them as they headed over to the Children’s Ward, the massive sack of wrapped presents levitating behind them.

“It’s great to have you with us this year, Draco,” Merit said before she turned to Granger and added, “He’s such a friend to the children this time of year. He’s been donating the presents for years, but he’s never wanted to get involved before and never wants any recognition for his generosity.”

Granger’s eyebrows rose in shock as she leaned back and looked at him. He felt his cheeks redden and mentally swore. It was for precisely this reason that he hadn’t wanted anyone to know that he donated money for the children’s presents every year. He knew society would look upon his actions with scorn, certain that he was doing it for the acclaim rather than because he knew how hard it was for children to be in hospital at this time of year. Now Granger was going to assume he had ulterior motives.

Luckily, they reached the Children’s Ward before she could say anything and he was engulfed by cheering, excited children who were able to forget they were in hospital for a few hours.

\-----------

It was late into the afternoon by the time he was able to get away and change back into himself. Part of him hoped that Granger had left whilst he was getting changed, but she was leaning against the wall waiting for him.

“Want to get a drink at the Leaky Cauldron?” she asked.

He eyed her curiously. They had never interacted in a social setting before but here she was, inviting him out with her.

“Why?” he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders before she said, “I could never resist a mystery and Draco Malfoy, benefactor to the St. Mungo’s Children Ward, is proving to be a big one.”

“You don’t need to buy me a drink to find that out. You could just ask,” he replied.

The one thing he knew he didn’t want from Granger was pretence. He respected her, had come to admire her, and at times was certain he even _liked_ liked her, so the thought of her asking him for a drink just so she could satisfy her inquiring mind about his actions sat uneasily with him. It wasn’t how he’d imagined this scenario would go the very few times he’d allowed himself to drift in that direction.

“So tell me then.”

It was Draco’s turn to shrug. “Milicent Bulstrode started off as a Healer in the ward and she told me when she first started working how depressing Christmas was there. St. Mungo’s didn’t have the money to put together a party for the kids so I decided to donate a sum every year for that purpose. There would be a present for each child, someone would dress as Santa and there would be a Christmas lunch afterwards.”

“And you did all this anonymously?”

“I knew what would happen if it came out in the public that Draco Malfoy did this, it would be suggested that I was using the kids to try and redeem the Malfoy family name and I didn’t want that,” he snapped irritably. “This was only ever meant to be about the children.”

She moved closer to him then, her hand coming out to rest on his forearm. “I didn’t mean my question to sound that way,” she said. “I think it’s great that you do this.”

He looked at her briefly and saw the sincerity in her eyes before his gaze skittered away to the wall just behind her in embarrassment. “Yeah, well…” he said incoherently before tailing off into silence.

“So…still want to get that drink?” she asked.

Shocked that she’d still want to do something personal with him despite having her curiosity satisfied, he stared at her in mute shock.

“C’mon, Malfoy!” she said, grinning. “I’m not _that_ awful. You never know, you might even enjoy yourself.”

Draco smiled at her then and said, “Yeah, I’d love to.”

“Great,” she said enthusiastically and linked her arm with his.

A warm, tingly feeling settled into the pit of his stomach. Perhaps letting himself think of something more with Hermione Granger wasn’t such an unattainable dream after all.


End file.
